India take on Australia in second ODI today
By Paritosh Pramanik
NAGPUR, Mar 4
ON THE eve of the second One-Day International, Shikhar Dhawan had a long stint in the batting nets. He batted for more than two hours facing net bowlers and India spinners. At times, coach Ravi Shastri went to him and the two had lengthy discussions. Dhawan was not given any respite. He had to even face the throw downs from the support staff.
Last Saturday, the opener had spent maximum time in the Indian dressing room when the hosts chased down the Australian target to go one up in the five-match series at Hyderabad.
A duck in the series opener after failing to make much of an impact in the second T20 (scored 14 of 24) and that too two months ahead of the World Cup might have concerned the Delhi batsman in general and team management in particular. India are in search of a second opener for the World Cup and Dhawan’s
lack of form would put more pressure on the side while picking the final 15.
The second ODI against Australia here at Jamtha Stadium would give another chance to the left-handed opener.
KL Rahul has done exceptionally well in the two T20 Internationals he has played with a half century in the first game and a 26-ball 47 in the second. He would be keen to grab the opportunity, if given, in the coming games.
India, with a morale-boosting win after the T20s loss, would be eager to stretch the gulf with another good show at the venue where they had a good record against the same side. Rohit Sharma, who had scored 125 last time when the two sides met, would love to do an encore.
Captain Virat Kohli is among runs and will continue to do the good work. But he will have to be cautious while negotiating Australian spinner Adam Zampa to whom he has given wicket twice in the series.
“Virat’s wicket is always big but there are also other big wickets,” Zampa said during the pre-match presser.
The little bit of clamour of a “finished Dhoni” has suddenly, and rightly, died down after the responsible innings from the Indian stumper. His match-winning undefeated stand with Kedar Jadhav has forced all the doubters to eat crow. It would be interesting to see how Australian seamers — Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile — and spinner Zampa attack the most matured player of the Indian side. Jadhav has done a world of good just head of World Cup selection. His morale would be high in the second game as well.
Indian bowling looks perfect. They are on the spot. Though Jasprit Bumrah was tad expensive in the first game, he would be a dangerous customer to deal with. Mohd Shami is peaking at the right time and would love to continue in the same vein. Spinners Kuldeep Yadav and part-timer Jadhav bowled exceedingly well but how much assist from this wicket they could get would remains to be seen.
“The wicket here looks on the slower side. It will be a challenging game,” said Yadav ahead of the match.
As for the Australians, their biggest worry is the form of captain Aaron Finch on this tour. The opener has just eight runs from three innings.
“Finchy is worried about his form but the atmosphere in the dressing room is great,” Zampa tried to play down the issue.
Usman Khawaja, with a half-century in the first game, will look to building on the same confidence while Marcus Stoinis and Peter Handscomb will have to shoulder the middle order.
Kohli has lost all the three tosses in this series and would pray the coin falls on his side. The wicket looks to assist the batsmen and it would be interesting to see how Dhawan bounces back.
Teams (FROM)
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Vijay Shankar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rishabh Pant, Siddarth Kaul, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja.
Australia: Aaron Finch (captain), D’Arcy Short, Shaun Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Usman Khawaja, Alex Carey, Peter Handscomb, Ashton Turner, Adam Zampa, Jason Behrendorff, Jhye Richardson, Pat Cummins, Andrew Tye, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Nathan Lyon.
By Paritosh Pramanik
NAGPUR, Mar 4
ON THE eve of the second One-Day International, Shikhar Dhawan had a long stint in the batting nets. He batted for more than two hours facing net bowlers and India spinners. At times, coach Ravi Shastri went to him and the two had lengthy discussions. Dhawan was not given any respite. He had to even face the throw downs from the support staff.
Last Saturday, the opener had spent maximum time in the Indian dressing room when the hosts chased down the Australian target to go one up in the five-match series at Hyderabad.
A duck in the series opener after failing to make much of an impact in the second T20 (scored 14 of 24) and that too two months ahead of the World Cup might have concerned the Delhi batsman in general and team management in particular. India are in search of a second opener for the World Cup and Dhawan’s
lack of form would put more pressure on the side while picking the final 15.
The second ODI against Australia here at Jamtha Stadium would give another chance to the left-handed opener.
KL Rahul has done exceptionally well in the two T20 Internationals he has played with a half century in the first game and a 26-ball 47 in the second. He would be keen to grab the opportunity, if given, in the coming games.
India, with a morale-boosting win after the T20s loss, would be eager to stretch the gulf with another good show at the venue where they had a good record against the same side. Rohit Sharma, who had scored 125 last time when the two sides met, would love to do an encore.
Captain Virat Kohli is among runs and will continue to do the good work. But he will have to be cautious while negotiating Australian spinner Adam Zampa to whom he has given wicket twice in the series.
“Virat’s wicket is always big but there are also other big wickets,” Zampa said during the pre-match presser.
The little bit of clamour of a “finished Dhoni” has suddenly, and rightly, died down after the responsible innings from the Indian stumper. His match-winning undefeated stand with Kedar Jadhav has forced all the doubters to eat crow. It would be interesting to see how Australian seamers — Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile — and spinner Zampa attack the most matured player of the Indian side. Jadhav has done a world of good just head of World Cup selection. His morale would be high in the second game as well.
Indian bowling looks perfect. They are on the spot. Though Jasprit Bumrah was tad expensive in the first game, he would be a dangerous customer to deal with. Mohd Shami is peaking at the right time and would love to continue in the same vein. Spinners Kuldeep Yadav and part-timer Jadhav bowled exceedingly well but how much assist from this wicket they could get would remains to be seen.
“The wicket here looks on the slower side. It will be a challenging game,” said Yadav ahead of the match.
As for the Australians, their biggest worry is the form of captain Aaron Finch on this tour. The opener has just eight runs from three innings.
“Finchy is worried about his form but the atmosphere in the dressing room is great,” Zampa tried to play down the issue.
Usman Khawaja, with a half-century in the first game, will look to building on the same confidence while Marcus Stoinis and Peter Handscomb will have to shoulder the middle order.
Kohli has lost all the three tosses in this series and would pray the coin falls on his side. The wicket looks to assist the batsmen and it would be interesting to see how Dhawan bounces back.
Teams (FROM)
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Vijay Shankar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rishabh Pant, Siddarth Kaul, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja.
Australia: Aaron Finch (captain), D’Arcy Short, Shaun Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Usman Khawaja, Alex Carey, Peter Handscomb, Ashton Turner, Adam Zampa, Jason Behrendorff, Jhye Richardson, Pat Cummins, Andrew Tye, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Nathan Lyon.
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